Once the 'Bashful Prince', Ishikawa still has eyes on the throne

Whether it was in America or Japan, every shot played was captured by TV crews and every post-round interview drew a massive scrum of golf writers that his agent would bring a stool for him to sit and answer every media question that would make sporting headlines back home.

This was the life of Ryo Ishikawa more than a decade ago.

Before the emergence of now eight-time PGA Tour winner Hideki Matsuyama, Ishikawa was the darling among fans and Japanese media, who were desperate to embrace a sporting hero that would inspire a golf-mad nation.

At age 15, Ishikawa wrote a chapter of golf history by becoming the youngest winner on the Japan Golf Tour in 2007 and by the time he turned 20, the boy who would earn the nickname “Bashful Prince” for his charm, good looks and youthful exuberance was already a nine-time winner, a world top-50 player and an International Team member at the Presidents Cup in 2009 and 2011.

Ishikawa ventured to the US at his prime in search of more success and spent five seasons on the PGA Tour from between 2013 to 2017, where he competed against the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. He notched two career-best runner-up finishes before a back injury cut short his American dreams.

While he seems to have been in the game forever, Ishikawa is still only 32 years of age, some five months older than Matsuyama, and while his swing speed may be a touch slower now, he has rebuilt his game and has won four times at home in the past four years in preparation of a final throw of the dice to make his mark on the PGA Tour.

An impressive tied fourth finish at the Zozo Championship, where Ishikawa was the highest placed local golfer in Japan’s lone PGA Tour event last week, received more coverage in some local newspapers than Collin Morikawa’s six-shot triumph, and the performance has only fueled the fire in his belly.

He did not hesitate to respond with a firm “Yes” when asked if he would accept an automatic exemption into the next FedExCup Fall event at the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico next week. “I'm always hoping to get back on the PGA Tour,” said Ishikawa, surrounded once more by hordes of Japanese media.

“It's been about